Captain Spoopy BonesDoldrick's Escape RoomEscape roomIRLAmazing room. Super funny and packed with clever puzzles. Almost perfect! Just a couple puzzle flow sticky points But just a minor minor thing. The promo images don’t do this one Justice. Seemed like it was going to just be for kids but us 3 adults thought it was a blast and was blown away by the production design story performance. Highly recommend!
HeadcaseBreaking Point Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLGreat room! Couple sticky points, couple pieces of broken tech, but overall very immersive and solid. There's a LOT to do. I loved the non-linear use of the space. The video storytelling maybe got a little overkill, but I'll take trying a little too hard on narrative over not trying at all. Definitely creepy/grousome theming. I'm typically not a fan of humor but it wasn't THAT bad. No insane jump scares or anything, just creepy.
The Secret At Whitmore EstateBreaking Point Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLSuper good room! Puzzles were decent, theming and set design were excellent. Professional lighting/sound. Has a lot of commonalities to Hope's End, though I think Hope's End maybe had a slightly more unique/creative take on the puzzles and narrative (points to Whitemore for coming first, of course). Still a super solid room. Regarding the scare factor: I've realized I need to adjust my definition of what constitutes a scary room. Compared to haunts, this room is not scary at all. Maybe a couple comically spooky moments. But I'd honestly say the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland is scarier than this, so use that as your gauge. I note it only because had I known how not-scary it is, I would have taken my wife (who hates horror). I was bracing for something more like a haunt. This is very Disney-level "spooky."
The Last JobConfusion EscapesEscape roomIRLThe room really surprised me as to how fun it was. I’m going to be totally honest: the beginning had me skeptical. Despite including a full size truck inside (amazing!), the production design felt pretty lackluster, and the puzzles were so so. But as the room went on, the real strength of the room became clear: the perfect escalation of puzzle flow and intensity. It ramped up in the perfect way to a tense, exciting, and satisfying climax. One of the stronger endings to a room I’ve had. Brilliant job on the puzzle/game/tension escalation. The story was lacking but, you know, it’s a heist. You get the money and get out, that’s why it’s a trope. There’s certainly room to improve the intro video and incorporate more narrative into the room, but it was still fun without it. A couple notes on the facility: the location was not too difficult to find, though it certainly continues the escape room industry standard of being tucked away in a nondescript, slightly sketchy industrial park. And while there seemed to be a nice lobby in the front, we instead had to wait for our game in a small room in the back of the building. Not a big deal, just felt a little awkward and yet again continues the escape room industry tradition of slightly awkward and under utilized lobbies. Despite all this, we had a blast. So hats off to all the good folks at Confusion Escapes! Looking forward to trying out their other games!
Whatever Happened To The Garretts?Maze Rooms West LAEscape roomIRLGreat!..... mostly. This room has some serious wear and tear, despite not being that old of a room. Upon entering the room, we found 2 compartments already open, thereby negating 2 puzzles. And some props were broken or breaking. That said, it's a very fun, creative room. One of our favorite themes. Some extremely clever puzzles (would have been nice to do them all). Loved the diversity of spaces within. With the entrance and lobby were more professional and welcoming. Could have used more puzzles. Without really trying, we finished with more than 20 minutes remaining. I don't mean to be too negative, this was a very fun room.
EscobarThe Escape RevolutionEscape roomIRLHeavily overrated room. Our whole group of enthusiasts agreed. The good news is that the setting and production design are amazing. Top marks for that. The rest of the experience left a lot to be desired. The puzzle flow was..... woof! Puzzles and clues did not connect to each other in any kind of sensical, narrative driven way. We finished one of the early major puzzles completely by accident. Another puzzle, which seemed like a central set-piece to the room, merely resulted in a basic clue for a puzzle we already completed. And don't get me started on the Red Herrings. So. Many. Red. Herrings. And things you accomplished but the room doesn't let you know that you have. Oh, and do you like puzzles where after you solve it, you have to wait 2 minutes to get the result? I'm not kidding, after you solve one centerpiece puzzle, you *literally* have to wait 2 minutes before you get the information from that solution. If there was other stuff you could do during that time, great! But we'd already done everything else, so we were actually just standing around waiting for two minutes. It's a shame that in such an immersively set-designed room, we were left feeling bored and confused most of the time. But that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part is that, in our opinion, our time was cut artificially short by the GM, and we lost the game. With no clock in the room, our time "ran out" right at 3pm on a 2pm reservation, even though the GM started our game at about 2:10. We had arrived a few minutes before our start time. Finished the wavers before our start time. The GM disappeared to finish resetting the room. I used the bathroom. After, we were still waiting on the GM to finish resetting. Finally, about 10 minutes after the hour, the GM let us in and gave us the spiel. She was good at this to be fair. And then our experience ended *exactly* at 3pm, 50 minutes in, and we failed the game with a couple puzzles to go. Frustrated, we called them out on this. Upon realizing they may have messed up, they offered us free sodas. Sweet. I guess that's what tipping them on top of the booking price prior to the experience got us. Look, I don't want to fully bad mouth this room, because there are plenty of awesome qualities about it. But overall, as escape room enthusiasts who have done many, many rooms, this was one of the more disappointing rooms we've experience.
PlaygroundThe Escape Game San BernardinoEscape roomIRLAn absolute blast, so much fun, despite a few frustrating and broken puzzles. We did the room with 3 people and, despite us all being seasoned enthusiasts, that was probably one less than needed to really do the room well - because we failed! A few things were broken in the room (see below). There were 2 or 3 puzzles that gave us that "oh, come on!" type of response (I'm looking at you, "Art" Puzzle). A couple red herrings. A couple non-sensical connections that could be dramatically improved with some simple design tweaks. The intro video for this room is maybe the best we've ever seen. The story setup is AMAZING, although it seems like the plot got lost for the rest of the room. Flaws aside, this room was still an absolute blast. One of the more fun rooms I've done. Hilarious kid-like fun.
AvalancheMaze Rooms - Robertson BlvdEscape roomIRLAn original and often mindbending twist on the “avalanche“ theme. A couple truly amazing reveals. Sadly a somewhat disappointing ending.
Timeliner: Train Through TimeThe Escape Game San BernardinoEscape roomIRLPhenomenal room… BUT. OK, the room itself is amazing. Super seamless and fun puzzle flow. Amazing tech. Everything felt sleek and professional. Clever concept. Excellent storytelling. But here’s the big BUT. Eight people is too many people for this room. There were several puzzles that we couldn’t even see, let alone participate in, because we physically couldn’t get around each other in the tiny, tiny space of this room. Basically we would sit out certain puzzles and then wait for the action to come to our side of the room. We still had a super fun time, but the cramped nature of the space definitely had an impact on the experience. Then obviously the other hot topic is the fact that it’s a public room. Because this location is in an incredibly high trafficked retail area, you can count on your game filling up to the maximum capacity, as ours did. Personally, I’m not a fan of public rooms. This is a hot topic in the Escape Room community. I understand that companies need to make money, and I’m all for that, but it doesn’t change the fact that in my opinion it lowers the quality of the experience a little bit. That said, our group was great and we had a ton of fun. I just think we would’ve had MORE fun if it was just me and my partner. Regardless, Timeliner is a fantastic room And a great representation of what Escape Rooms can be.
Special Ops: Mysterious MarketThe Escape Game San BernardinoEscape roomIRLGreat room! Starts very mechanical, gets much more high tech. Wish the first room was larger/more to do. But great story. Satisfying ending.
